An over-the-top collection from Down Under

The Harry Potter, GOT & books on the third shelf are my girl friends. Also recently just got in to board games, so I expect that pile to grow. The big books under that bag are a couple of Chris Ware’s books.

Not much to highlight on the other shelves, just started collecting the Complete Crumb books.

And for a bonus, some random art:

Cell signed by Hanna & Barbera.

*****

If you’d like to see your collection featured here on Robot 6, here’s what you need to do:

1. Take some photos and save them as jpgs.
2. Write up a little something about your collection.
3. Send them to me in an email. Please put the text into an email and attach the images as separate files; don’t embed them into a Word doc. Uploading them to Dropbox or a similar service also works

demoncat_4

Now you’re talking! This is a COMIC COLLECTION. This is a great combination of some of the best works that the medium has to offer worldwide. I see manga, north-american, some european masterworks. In few words: THIS IS COMICS.

MARVEL/DC are not ”comics”, Superhero collections are not ”comic collections”… that’s just superhero stuff, which happen to be ”also” comics. (In the same way that having 500 britney spears’ CD’s in your home doesn’t constitute a Music Collection… just a Britney Spears collection, that happens to be ”also” music).

Marcus Jay

Well, Guido, those “superhero comics” that you deride are usually the things that get people in the door. Reading superhero comics doesn’t make one a moron. Maybe you don’t like’em, but they’re still valid. Nobody needs your permission to be a fan. Having a fifty long boxes makes you just as much a fan as having Maus and Persepolis on your shelf. Comics are comics. Alan Moore wrote Superman once upon a time.

David

Nerdy Bird

Guido was deriding anything. Just stating that superhero comics aren’t the be all end all of comic book medium, just a portion.

And nowhere in his post does he call superhero fans morons or suggest they are less of a fan than someone who reads Maus or Persepolis.

Maybe there’s something there that I don’t see, but i don’t think a post praising the breadth of the collection and how well it represents the entirety of the medium requires a response defending superhero comics.

Nice collection, Oliver! Good to see another NZer on here, has inspired me to think about posting my own modest collection. And on a personal note: stoked to see my book on New Zealand Comics in there too! Cheers

Marcus Jay

Nerdy Bird: He said superhero comics aren’t comics, which says it all, I think. I don’t wanna come off like some fanboy troll, but he needn’t smear an entire comics genre as less than. If they aren’t his cuppa, that’s fine, but qualifying people who read mainstream books as somehow unworthy is stupid.

I understand what Guido was saying. In America, the word comic is synonymous with superheroes, which is why he put “comics” in quotes, and then said:
that’s just superhero stuff, which happen to be ”also” comics.

So he specifically said superheroes are comics.

I feel the same way when Batman/Avengers/X-Men etc. are called comic book movies, but are actually superhero movies. If gives a very limiting notion of the medium, something people who do non-genre comics generally give up on explaining since the popular perception is so intertwined with superheroes.

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Anyway, I think this is a fabulous collection. I’ve only dipped into Tezuka, and want to get deeper into his work. And you can’t go wrong with Hernandez or Ware. Bonus points for the LEGO.

Vince

David

I have to agree that I think Guido was just saying that Marvel and DC aren’t the be-all and end-all in comics. In other words, they aren’t the only thing that makes comics, period.

On the other hand, Guido is being a tad elitist and snobbish. So what if people only read comics that feature superheroes? That doesn’t make them any less informed or lesser fans because they don’t like your more “sophisticated” graphic novels. As to the music analogy, anyone’s collection is going to stop short of containing a sampling of every genre. Personally, I hate country music, so does that mean my music collection of thousands of CDs and pieces of vinyl isn’t music? Frankly, anyone whose collection had such a wide sampling that they had, let’s say death metal, classical, country, and pop, would most likely have to qualify as a pretentious poseur. Who has time to read a gigantic variety of comics and graphic novels? For many, it’s hard to keep up each month with their reading. In other words, let people enjoy the genre of comics they like, and don’t be a prick about it.

Sean Fewster

First, i appreciate people giving their points of view about what makes a comic collection a comic collection, or comics comics, as i did in a comment before. I didn’t want to attack anybody, but also i can’t just keep my mouth shut about the things that i think, just in name of a hypothetical ”political correction”. Frredom of speech.

Second. I’m not a dogmatic ”superhero hater that only reads things like persepolis” kind of guy. I am a huge fan of authors like Jack Kirby or John Byrne, who have made almost their entire careers (at least their most known comics) working for Marvel/DC. But i don’t follow characters, i also don’t follow macro-events, i follow AUTHORS, the people who create the comics and work with the fictional characters… the, I can buy a superhero comic, for example, if it has the Byrne or Kirby name on the cover, not because it has the Batman or Spiderman or ”new event of the year” logo on its cover.

Third. Superhero comics (alas Marvel/DC comics), are not just a ”genre”, like crime, sci-fi, horror, romance, western, erotic, biographical, alternative, etc. are ”genres”. Marvel/DC superhero comics are a CORPORATE/EDITORIAL-DRIVEN-GENRE. It’s not like ”ok i do comics, and i like the dc/marvel superhero genre, let’s do something in that genre”. That doesn’t work that way, never did, but today more than ever it doesn’t. Superman, Spiderman, whatever… are BRANDS. Not even characters, they are BRANDS and people who works for MARVEL/DC are paid just to keep the brands as the corporate honchos want them to be keeped. Not very ”artistic” or ”creative” or ”transsgresive” way to do art, if you ask me.

Finally, as i said, i like some superhero comics myself (i’m sure i’ve read more of them as a lot of those ”superhero comic defenders” out there), but i can’t help to feel sad or even ashamed when i see some collections in this section that are just tons of MARVEL/DC books… because those people are not comic collectors, they don’t have the slightest idea of what comics are or what the medium is capable of (and the worst: THEY DON’T WANNA KNOW). They are happy consuming exclusively that corporate driven stories of those corporate brands, the same stories all the time… well, as i say, i feel sad for them.

@Vince: That books is TEZUKA’S ”DORORO”, it was originally published by Vertical Inc. in three volumes, but that big book compiles the complete comic in a single volume.

Leo

Guido almost started to make sense until he got to the last two paragraphs. I think he’s not understanding the meaning of the word “collection”.

“…but i can’t help to feel sad or even ashamed when i see some collections in this section that are just tons of MARVEL/DC books… because those people are not comic collectors, they don’t have the slightest idea of what comics are…”

So there you have it guys, if your collection doesn’t include Maus or Persepolis it’s just a pile of corporate crap that you bought.

Leo

el_caifan

Hey Guido I understand what you are trying to say, to a point I do. But shut up already! This is Shelf Porn, take your rant to a message board! You are taking away from the showcase. There are different types of collections on here and I enjoy looking through these collections immensely. We are all collectors and we all have different tastes! Do you understand? It’s somebody’s personal collection devoted to THEIR tastes and likes. Post your collection, I’d like to see what a ‘true’ comics fans collection looks like! Mine will shame yours any day of he week.

Jamie

I agree with JK that Black Hole is a great read. It’s good to see Epileptic by David B on the shelves as well. Just re-read them both along with Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest kid on earth. Certainly in my top ten. I need to read more Hernandez Brothers next.

Ransak

I grew up in the 90’s so Marvel and Image got me into comics, but it was the non super-hero stuff or different perspective super hero stuff that kept me into comics when i was older like material from Vertigo, Dark Horse and other smaller comic companies (where most the classics come from). That said, having read most of the non-superhero stuff I am starting to get back into it and its a lot of fun but its chaos and a complete headache trying to figure out read order, whats ongoing and whats not (while you are in the comic store).

Want to read sandman? Go buy the 10 TPB and any small spinoffs you want. Try doing that with Uncanny X-men, impossible. Yes i know Uncanny was 544 issues and Sandman was far less but still. The concept should be similar. The average person just wants to read comics not become a scholar in a companies publishing history.

Secondly, Great collection btw, more isnt always better I run around to about 6 different comic stores in my city when i do a “comic run”. Ordering stuff online kind of removes part of the experience. Sorry to hear NZ doesnt have such luxuries. Having 6 myself i always find it not enough cause i cant find everything i want.

Def – I agree with you completely there, but my point meant to say that superheroes began IN the comic medium and does not necessarily mean they’re less valid or credible. I just realised how it could have been interpreted xD

Oliver Grainger

Thanks for the comments @Adrian looking forward to the other book you are involved with, Dharma Punks. And to the person asking about The Incal. I think it’s from Humanoids publishing. Glad I started a debate about superhero comics!